Marketing can seem intimidating at first; every business seems to have their own unique strategy that they have perfected for their agency. So how did they get there? How do you know what will work for your own business?
While this question can seem daunting, don’t panic! We’re going to break down the top 5 things that every agency needs in order to develop their marketing:
- Create a brand style guide;
- Build a responsive agency website;
- Develop a social media presence;
- Plan a marketing strategy; and
- Content Creation
Brand Style Guide
Every agency, no matter the industry, should create and follow a brand style guide. A brand style guide is the heart of your agency’s personality and should include the following elements:
- Brand color palette
- Typeface
- Brand voice
- Logos
A brand style guide will help you stay consistent. As we know, consistency is key to a strong brand. You know you’ve developed a strong brand when customers recognize your agency’s marketing materials without seeing the name.
Consistency goes beyond your marketing department. Every person in the agency should be familiar with the personality of your brand to help maintain a unified image. Making your brand guide accessible to your staff allows for this consistency.
A Responsive Website
Having a website is a necessity. But having a website isn’t enough, you need to make sure your website is responsive and search engine optimized (SEO).
A responsive website is one that is able to work seamlessly from desktop to mobile. This is extremely important as we now know that over 51% of time spent online is spent on mobile devices.
People find what they are looking for by searching online; building your website to be responsive and SEO, so it is easily found on search engines, is key.
Creating a responsive and SEO website can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. There are tons of website building tools that allow you to easily design and implement your agency’s brand into a functioning, responsive, website.
Here are a few tools that we recommend:
Social Media
Just like a website, Social Media is an important way for customers to find your business. Unlike a website however, this is not a full overview of your agency, this is a snapshot of your brand, values and services.
Investing in social media allows you to humanize your agency and develop your brand’s personality even more.
Your social media is not only an outlet for branded content like partnership announcements, agency milestones, and celebrating the growth of your agency, it’s also a place where customers can interact and connect with you.
We recommend researching the different social platforms to find which ones would work best for your agency. The following platforms are some that we recommend:
Remember that each social media platform caters to a different audience, so identify where your target audience exists, and start there.
Marketing Strategy
You can’t begin your marketing efforts without creating a marketing strategy. This strategy doesn’t have to contain nitty gritty details, but instead should provide your marketing team the direction that they should head in.
First, break down your strategy to fit your different channels. If you are going to use social media platforms and print advertising, these should each have their own strategy.
To find a strategy that is right for you, evaluate your agency’s product and/or service. Will you reach more customers through digital marketing, or would your clients prefer print ads? Evaluate your financial standing as well. Print ads and paid ad campaigns on social sites can cost a lot of money, but posting content on your website, social accounts, and emails to clients won’t create any additional costs.
Once you develop these marketing strategies and have a clear goal to work toward, then you can begin making your marketing plan to achieve your goals.
Content Creation
You have your brand, you have your website and social media accounts, and you have a marketing strategy. But now what do you do with all of these tools? Create content.
Content is essential for boosting SEO, positioning your agency as approachable and knowledgeable, and enhancing or solidifying your overall brand image.
Content can take the form of videos, graphics, blog posts, podcasts, photos, etc. Take the time to test content styles and learn what forms your customers prefer to interact with; a healthy mix of multiple forms of content is ideal, but your customers may still have a preference.
Marketing doesn’t have to be scary. It all boils down to creating a solid brand and consistency. Once you find your agency’s voice and develop a strategy to share that voice, the content will plan itself.
